Somewhere, that great eugenicist, Margaret Sanger is smiling:
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, former vice president Al Gore asserted that it’s crucial for global philanthropists to impose “fertility management” on Africa. No one called that racist.
Gore, who apparently mismanaged his fertility by having four children, praised the “wonderful work’ of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: “Depressing the rate of child mortality, educating girls, empowering women and making fertility management ubiquitously available — so women can chose how many children and the spacing of children — is crucial to the future shape of human civilization.”
He warned, “Africa is projected to have more people than China and India by mid-century — more than China and India combined by end of the century, and this is one of the causal factors that must be addressed.”
Should we file this perilous prediction under Global Warming or Mini Ice Age? Future Shock or Imminent Pandemic?
But it is that cold, clinical expression, “fertility management”, that freezes the blood. Mark Steyn for the kill:
In the midst of death there is life – or there is until Al Gore shows up. The former vice-president took part in one of those interminable Davos snoozefests on climate change. There were the usual not so subtle hints to get in line: “We need,” he said, “to put a price on denial in politics.” From my own experience, the price – at least in terms of legal bills – is already quite steep, but no doubt more can be done. Gore’s other big idea was a call for “fertility management” in the Third World – ie, he wants rich white people to ensure that blacks breed less. Is there nothing environmentalism can’t make respectable?
Liberalism makes so many evils respectable: antisemitism, racism, infanticide, eugenics, class war, intimidation, hate speech and bullying. You know: pretty much everything we were taught was wrong.
PS: I don’t think Al Gore “mismanaged his fertility”: I respect him for having four children. He knew he could provide for them, and that they would every chance to thrive in the world. Why not? If many Africans (and Indians and Chinese and Haitians and Russians) cannot provide for their children, I’m not asking for them to have more. But the story of human existence is not solely one of passels of offspring with straight teeth and clear complexions. The far, far, far more common story is one of breeding in number in the hope that enough offspring will survive propagate the species and to care for the previous generation(s). It’s not how we like to think of ourselves, but it is the main plot line of our tale.
